2020 - it's been a roller coaster ride!

 Oh my goodness.....the things we have endured in this year.  Corona Virus is still raising it's ugly head.  Masks everywhere we go, social distancing....feeling filthy after going ANYwhere other than our home.  It's awful really.  But we have made things happen and shared days and loved through it all!  

Hayden Michael Corley turned 10 this year.  

We also had a camp Mimi for Hayden.  It was a fun time....lots of late night movies, of course the scavenger hunt to begin his camp Mimi.  I asked him if he was still going to want a scavenger hunt when he was a teenager - his answer "of course Mimi....and when I am 16, can I find my car at the end of the hunt?"  Another cute saying I was reminded of from this little cutie....I said something about him getting married when he got older "but mimi, I am not getting married....I am going to be a "gigalow" (I have no idea how to even spell it...how in the world does he know the word????) " - 

"Hayden Michael, what in the world does that mean?"

"That's a really really rich guy that never gets married"

"So Hayden, you aren't going to have a family when you get older?"

"Sure I am Mimi - I will have momma and my dad!"

Oh the things this little one comes up with!

I took my friend Suzanne to her first ever infusion.  Her eyes have been bad for 3 years now.  She sees double.  These infusions have all kinds of horrible side effects but it's her only hope to get her vision back.  We pray and pray for God to lead her to healing.  Bless her heart, her left eye goes completely in....but the infusions are working....her right eye has straightened out and for that we are SO thankful.  She has faced this challenge with such grace.....such a strong faith.  She is an inspiration.

Stevie's birthday was celebrated too.....I made Nordy's crab stack salad and these cute little Caprese toasts as an appetizer.  We had such a fun night and sat outside after dinner.  We gave him special gifts with his "Burt Reynolds" posed picture on them.  They were a big hit =) 

Avery turned 17 in August.  I still can't believe this sweet one is a SENIOR....

Avery Grace is still tiny....but she's a force to be reckoned with!  Political.....she knows her stuff.  She and Papa and Shawn get into deep conversations about it all.  I love that they can sit for the longest and the conversation never lags.  We always have such a good time.  She and Papa have a very special relationship.  He sends her texts almost every single day.....funny things, political things....she's always SO sweet to respond.  She's so talented.  Her artwork blows us away.  She's very sensitive....sweetest heart.  She loves us so much and I am so very thankful for the gift of Avery Grace in our lives!

In September, we celebrated this sweet man.  71 ya"ll!  Can't believe it.  He's still just as cute as he was 40 years ago and oh how I love him.  He's his own person.....I mean no airs put on for ANYone!  What you see is what you get.  I need a little more of that in ME!  Not a people pleaser at all.  He wears what he wants....he says what he wants....and his faith is so very strong.  I am so very thankful that he's HERE....he's able to breath without help (in his surgery, the possibility was otherwise), eat, and enjoy our life together.  I am SO thankful.  God is so good.  I love this man with all I have.  Thank You Lord Jesus for the gift of Michael Lane Corley....he's my rock.  

These sweet guys.....we dog sit every once in a while for Shawn - we call it Malcolm's camp Mimi!  We tried at first to both go and take this little guy with the monkey....but oh my goodness....these two do NOT get along.  So what we do - I go and stay at Shawn's and Michael stays home with Sammy and comes over during the day.  Malcolm is the SWEETEST dog.  A little crazy, but so sweet.  I love spending time with him and he loves his Mimi!  He often lays right by my side at night while we watch TV.....his head draped on my leg.  It's a sweet time.  I tend to watch all the Barefoot Contessa video's I can while there and come home to a cooking frenzy.  

Cindy's birthday is in September and what she wanted for her birthday is for us all to go to Lake Texhoma and go on a guided fishing tour.  She's done this once before and loved it so much.  SOOOOO, to celebrate Cindy's 68th we did just that.  It was the BEST fun ever.  

Yes....we DID this!  And I caught the first three right off the bat!  We got up at 5 and had to be at the docks at 6.....riding through the water as the sun comes up - it's a gift.  The tour guide was a good one.  He knew exactly where to go to catch the fish.....

The funny thing.....We spent the first night right by the dock....in cute little cabins.  But for our second night in Oklahoma, Stevie got us reservations at a resort on Lake Texhoma.  It was a little more fancy.  Well, the guide told us he would clean and fillet the fish, but it was our job to rinse them the next day (his only cleaning was with lake water).  We both had two HUGE bags of fillets.....so here we are in the fancy bathroom, cleaning our bounty in their sink!  Oh the crazy stuff we have done with Cindy and Steve.  How I love them.  They are our very best friends and we are so thankful for each one.  We are family.  No need to put on airs or try and be anything you are not - they never judge.....they always love.  

It's been a crazy first 9 months of 2020....but we found ways to enjoy....ways to love....ways to fellowship. Praying for this virus to end....for God to heal our land.  The economy is failing....personalities are changing....even mine.  This pandemic is doing strange things to the people we love.  God please heal us.